Discover or Dashboards asks you to add data or create a data view

Instead of the app, Discover or Dashboards shows a screen that asks you to add data or create a data view. This can happen even when Elasticsearch already holds data. A data view tells Kibana which Elasticsearch data to explore, such as indices, data streams, or aliases.

When you open Discover or Dashboards, you see one of the following screens instead of the app:

• A How do you want to explore your data? screen with a Create a data view card and a Query your data with ES|QL card.
• A card that asks you to add data. The card is titled Add integrations, or Add data in some serverless projects. If you can't add integrations, the card is titled Contact your administrator.

Kibana looks for data that you have access to, and for data views in your current space. If you set up remote clusters, Kibana looks for data in them too.

The screen you see tells you what Kibana found:

To decide whether you have data, Kibana looks for at least one index or data stream that you can access. An empty index is enough. Kibana ignores indices whose names start with a dot.

To decide whether you have a data view, Kibana only checks that one exists in the current space. It doesn't check that the data view matches any index, so a data view that matches nothing still opens the app.

Discover opens when either of the following is true:

• A data view exists in the current space.
• At least one ES|QL data federation dataset exists.

If Elasticsearch has data but none of these conditions is true, Discover shows the How do you want to explore your data? screen. Discover still opens when you use a link or a saved Discover session that contains an ES|QL query.

Dashboards opens when any of the following is true:

• A data view exists in the current space.
• At least one ES|QL data federation dataset exists.
• You have unsaved changes on a new dashboard in your current browser session.
• At least one saved dashboard exists in the current space.

Kibana runs this check when you open the Dashboards page or create a new dashboard. It doesn't run when you open a saved dashboard directly.

Use the option that matches the screen you see:

• If you see How do you want to explore your data?, create a data view or query without one.
• If you see Add integrations, Add data, or Contact your administrator, add data or find out why you can't see it.

If you see How do you want to explore your data?, Elasticsearch has data that you can explore in either of the following ways:

• To explore the data with a data view, select Create data view on the Create a data view card and define the data view. When you save it, Discover opens on the new data view, and Dashboards continues to the dashboard list or the new dashboard. Refer to Create a data view.
• To query the data without a data view, select Try ES|QL on the Query your data with ES|QL card. Kibana picks an index for the starting query: logs* if the name of a local index starts with logs, otherwise the first index it finds. In Discover, this opens ES|QL mode with a query on that index. In Dashboards, this opens a new dashboard with a chart built from a query on that index. Refer to Get started with ES|QL in Discover.

If Create data view is unavailable, your role can't create data views. Ask an administrator to create one or to update your role.

If you see Add integrations, Add data, or Contact your administrator, Kibana found no data that you can access and no data view in the current space.

If you expect data views or dashboards to be there, switch to the Kibana space that contains them.

The remaining steps need privileges that not every role has, such as access to integrations, to Elasticsearch indices, or to data view management. If your role doesn't allow a step, ask an administrator to do it or to update your role.

• To add data, select Browse integrations on the card (Add integrations in earlier versions). The Contact your administrator card has no button, because your role can't add integrations. After the data arrives, return to Discover or Dashboards. If you now see How do you want to explore your data?, follow the steps in the previous section. For other ways to ingest data, refer to Ingest: Bring your data to Elastic.
• If you expect data from an agent, Logstash, or another source, check that Elasticsearch received it. In Index Management, look for the index on the Indices tab or the data stream on the Data Streams tab. You can also run GET _cat/indices?v in the Kibana console to list indices. If it isn't listed, check your ingest pipeline. If it is listed but you still see the screen, check that your role gives you access to the index. Refer to Manage indices in Kibana.
• If your data is in an index whose name starts with a dot, create a data view for it on the Data Views management page. A data view is enough for Discover and Dashboards to open. Refer to Create a data view.

• Data views
• Kibana spaces